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Grosgrain Archives

August 22, 2011

I'm guessing many of you are wondering what happened to me these past few months? At the end of May I had some big plans for the blog that had to be put on hold. Did my sewing machine break? Did I forget to pay my internet bill? Did I fall into a bottomless hole? Well....I've basically taken the summer off for various reasons. The biggest reason/good news, we are expecting a baby at the end of January.

Not that this alone would impede me from blogging at the pace I usually do. Normally I get sick and tired in the first four months which does slow me down a bit but this time around I had to also quit taking a medication (tramadol) that I was using for IC. The effect of NOT taking the medication was surprisingly horrible and way worse than the discomfort of IC. Before this pregnancy, I never took more than the recommended dosage, normally less. Yet, not taking it was enough to throw me completely off track for most of the summer. It took about three months to get back to feeling like myself again. And I've been starting slowly with semi-homemade maternity dresses.

Semi-homemade dresses are great because they only take about a day to make and usually come out looking fabulous. And best of all, you can still brag about making it yourself without really fibbing;)

This was the second one I made. I'll be showing you the first one later. I used an old Forever 21 top and cut it off at the bust line. I save the trim at the bottom of the top and used it at the waistband of the new dress. It kind of hurt to cut up this old favorite shirt of mine. In fact, I'm a little shocked I did it at all but in the end I think it was worth it. This dress is so super cute for maternity wear. I made the skirt from my own pattern and attached it to the top. It has a gathered front, side piped pockets, 1.5" waistband and wide contrast trim at the hem.

Has anyone else noticed the complete LACK of maternity options out there? Everything is knit and simple and blah. We need a Modcloth for maternity! Using interesting tops and adding your own homemade skirt is a great way to get that look for little money. Honestly, I don't even think you can get this look in maternity no matter how much you paid. Everything out there I've seen is pretty bland. But if any of you have some good sites please let me know.

I hope to be offering the skirt pattern later in the week on Grosgrain in sample size 8 for free then offering it graded later at a small fee. I'll also show you how to attach the skirt pattern to an existing blouse so you can make a semi-homemade frock of your own. I also have a few other projects which have taken up my free time. As I mentioned earlier, we moved Lily and Molly upstairs to make room for the new baby which took about a month and a half to finish completely (hoping to be posting pics of that soon, still have a few decorating ideas in the works). I'm also working on a big project with Burdastyle which requires some commuting to NYC and LOTS of work from home. On top of all of that I still am feeling kind of poopy from the pregnancy but I'm slowly making my way back to where I was before. As for re-introducing tramadol after the pregnancy I'm already looking into more natural alternatives but if anyone has any questions about taking it themselves, I'd be happy to give my two cents.

I'm so glad to be feeling much better than I was just a month ago. Though I fear it will be short lived:) These few brief months between 4 and 6 are the least uncomfortable. But this will be our last baby so I'm trying to enjoy as much of these moments as I can. It is a blessing and I'm so happy to meet our newest addition in January.

PS We'll find out the gender of the baby tomorrow which I'd be delighted to share with you then!

So cute! I agree on the lack of cute maternity wear as well as the cost- sheeze. I'm due in March and am just getting to the I feel normal without being huge phase, which is wonderful. Congrats and good luck these next few months!

congratulations! how exciting! i follow you on pinterest and had been getting a little suspicious with your "maternity post" board...gotta admit! :) glad you're feeling better. the dress looks great, too.

I am not an herbalist and everything I know I learned from the internet. However, I've been looking at herbal options for bladder problems for my dog who is paralyzed and suffers from chronic issues that cause irritation. I recently started giving him Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's purse). It is used mainly to help with controlling bleeding but also has anti-inflammatory properties.

hi there! big fan of your blog. i used your bridesmaids bouquet satin flower post for a friend's wedding recently, in fact....so.... i find that unsolicited medical advice is pretty creepy in general, but i want to throw this out there anyway. it's great that you want to get off the tramadol. i'd hope for you to consider osteopathic therapy. it is not the same as chiropractic! it can be a great addition to a natural pain management regimen, and can be beneficial to your pregnancy as well. an article for your consideration: http://www.jaoa.org/cgi/content/full/107/suppl_6/ES17?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=interstitial+cystitis&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCITplease msg me if you need more info. i hope you have a splendid 3rd pregnancy so that you can keep crafting and posting!! :)-chelsea

Congratulations on the pregnancy! I'm so sorry to hear about the IC, though. A friend of mine also suffers from that and I see what a struggle it is - I'm glad you're feeling better though, and the dress is so very very cute! I look forward to the pattern/tute for it.

Congrats on your pregnancy! We're having our first early January so I'm so very excited to see that you're going to be doing some maternity wear! I can't seem to find anything I like and am struggling to make my pre-pregnancy clothes work... =( I also have a wedding to go to in November and 2 showers my friends and family are throwing for me! Yay for the excitement but I was so worried I won't find anything to wear...not anymore though =)

Congrats on your coming addition. We are expecting as well, and I'll probably be using a bunch of your embellish knit things to fancy up my maternity wardrobe, since I'll be the most pregnant in the winter.

Congrats on the good news! And sorry for your tramadol experperience. My mother had horrible adverse effect. She had been using it for 4 weeks for arthritis in her neck and went off it because it was upsetting her stomach. She shouldn't have. It sent her into full blown withdrawal. It was horrible..like a nightmare. Doc and pharmacist were surprised, but none the less, it happened. I do hope you are feeling better soon.

Dancer D.O. So glad to hear you were able to reuse my bridesmaid bouquet idea and tutorial. I hope they were a hit. I hope to be opening my new wedding related blog very soon so if you know any other soon to be brides there will be great ideas there.

yay! congrats!! i'm pregnant with my first and all of a sudden, this morning my clothes didn't fit anymore...i just came to find your old tutorials with your last baby that i think i remember reading and yay! more new ones! thanks for all the sharing. i need all the maternity help i can get!

Have you checked out Boden's maternity selection? Perhaps they have some cute separates/dresses that might be a change from the usual so-so maternity selection. Then again, with your skills, you can make lots of stylish things for yourself for a lot less money (as long as you have the energy for sewing!).